The American System: A Review Article

The role of government in the ante-bellum American economy has been boldly redefined in a score of books and articles published during the past decade. Close analysis of state and local sponsorship of enterprise, initiated and supported by the Committee on Research in Economic History, has suggested a thesis that appears to invite a new view of American capitalism in its formative years. Taken together, the works here reviewed form a consistent report of economic endeavor in an almost unfamiliar land. There, the elected public official replaced the individual enterpriser as the key figure in the release of capitalist energy; the public treasury, rather than private saving, became the major source of venture capital; and community purpose outweighed personal ambition in the selection of large goals for local economies. “Mixed” enterprise was the customary organization for important innovations, and government everywhere undertook the role put on it by the people, that of planner, promoter, investor, and regulator.